Major Casting Director Slams Dior's All-White Runway as 'Racist'

Raf Simons has done almost nothing wrong since taking up the reins at Dior. His designs have been met with critical acclaim across the board. He goes out of his way to be nice to journalists.
But there's one area where Simons falls short, and that's when it comes to the diversity in model casting for his runway shows.
Dior's not the only whitewashed show. Noting that close to 90% of the models cast to walk in the fall 2013 runway shows were white, BuzzFeed reached out to five top casting agents to ask: Why?

Raf Simons has done almost nothing wrong since taking up the reins at Dior. His designs have been met with critical acclaim across the board. He goes out of his way to be nice to journalists.
But there's one area where Simons falls short, and that's when it comes to the diversity in model casting for his runway shows.
Dior's not the only whitewashed show. Noting that close to 90% of the models cast to walk in the fall 2013 runway shows were white, BuzzFeed reached out to five top casting agents to ask: Why?

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Raf Simons has done almost nothing wrong since taking up the reins at Dior. His designs have been met with critical acclaim across the board. He goes out of his way to be nice to journalists.

But there's one area where Simons falls short, and that's when it comes to the diversity in model casting for his runway shows. Obviously Simons himself doesn't cast the shows--but he's still the name behind the brand. And there's a stark difference between a Galliano-helmed Dior runway and a Simons-helmed Dior runway in that regard. At a Simons Dior show you'd be hard pressed to find any non-white model, whereas Galliano's shows for Dior regularly featured models of color. (We hear Maida Gregori Boina and Rami Fernandes cast Simons's shows for Dior which may explain things a bit--they cast Jil Sander and Calvin Klein too, two other shows that are notoriously white.)

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And Dior's not the only whitewashed show. Noting that close to 90% of the models cast to walk in the fall 2013 runway shows were white, BuzzFeed reached out to five top casting agents to ask: Why?

James Scully, casting director for Tom Ford and Jason Wu, took Dior head on:

I feel the Dior cast is just so pointedly white that it feels deliberate. I watch that show and it bothers me — I almost can't even concentrate on the clothes because of the cast. And recently they're changing from a very diverse, worldwide, multicultural cast to just a very Germanic-looking white girl. Natalie Portman could complain that John Galliano was a racist, but I feel [Dior designer] Raf Simons sends the same message. I don't know what the difference is.

And just in case you were wondering, the shade does not stop there: Other designers called out include Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Calvin Klein.

But the casting directors all caution against casting for "tokenism" purposes as well. Scully also made the point that it's just as offensive to put an Asian girl in a show to appeal to Chinese customers, arguing, "That's equally bad because a Chinese or Korean or Japanese person--they're not stupid and can tell the difference."

So what is the solution? All five of the casting directors seemed torn, recognizing that it's of course a complicated and layered issue. But Jennifer Starr, who works for Ralph Lauren and Ohne Titel, said it simplest:

"I think we need to stop blaming and start trying to figure out how to change things."

It's quite unfortunate that Jourdan Dunn didn't work out for Dior--not because she needs the exposure, but because Dior needs the diversity.
"I'm normally told I'm cancelled because I'm 'coloured' so being cancelled because off my boobs is a minor : )" Dunn tweeted.

Even though the anticipation of waiting for Marc Jacobs nearly killed us after he postponed his show due to Hurricane Irene--it's fitting that he showed last. Because not only does Marc Jacobs consistently present one of the best and most important collections each season (in terms of setting trends), but he also really puts on a show.
And last night, Jacobs literally put a show. A heavy gold curtain parted to reveal a full cast of models draped Fosse-style over wooden chairs across the length of the stage (think of the "Cell Block Tango" number from Chicago or A Chorus Line)--and you could actually hear the audience gasp ('Are they going to dance? Sing?' we hoped). Earlier that night, Jacobs' sent out an urgent email canceling all backstage beauty press due to "a very long technical rehearsal" and now we understand why. The show was intricately choreographed, with models exiting the Broadway-esque tableau at precise times to walk the stage, which was set like a dance hall in a barn--a simple wooden frame lined with bulbs bisected the runway. And in another nod to Fosse, Jacobs, clad all in black (he was even wearing jazz pants), crouched behind his models, clapping along to keep time and give his dancers models cues--and all of it to a Phillip Glass soundtrack of voices counting to eight over and over--standard for choreography.
It was as if Marc was winking at us, taking the stage because he knew he was at the center of it as the name on the tip of everyone's tongue to succeed Galliano at Dior. Jacobs told WWD that taking the job at the storied French house “has nothing to do with salary. I mean, I’d be honored to do Dior. But I work with a team, and I’d like to be able to keep working with them. I think it would be really exciting. I wouldn’t be able to say no.”
But we should talk about the clothes.